larrynjr

Welcome to the site, it is always great to have new members. I remember last year about this time when I first found this site. It was indeed a hallelujah moment.

Darryl is a great instructor, I took his forge welding class this fall and anticipate taking an animal head class from him in the coming year. Thanks for providing the link to the youtube video Mark, did you also edit the DVD to create the youtube video?

Sorry to hear about your circumstances, you're a bit too far from me to make buying anything an option but I'm sure there are enough smiths near you that you will be able to sell your stuff quickly. I hope things look up for you soon and you find a way to return to forging.

I read various references to using acid's to remove the flux and vaguely remember something about vinegar. Is vinegar strong enough to remove the flux residue or is there a commercial product I should be looking for?

I used to wear just the wrap around clear plastic safety glasses, until I got a piece of steel in my eye while grinding. No damage done but it made me think twice. I now wear the clear plastic shop goggles, that completely cover my eyes, underneath, top and sides. I haven't had any trouble with anything getting in my eyes except sweat now! I keep bricks in front of the door of my gasser and tend not to stare into the fire much, so I haven't been too worried about IR damage. I will still look into getting something though, I want to continue to see until I'm no longer seen by anyone!

Apology accepted Jr. I actually hadn't had time to get close to my step son, my wife and I were still short of our 2 year anniversary when it happened, he was 21 and recently released from the Navy with depression issues. It is of course hardest on my wife and for me hard to see her go through this. She is working very hard to move on with life but I know that it is something that you NEVER get over. I certainly sympathize with your loss and know that it is something you feel every day. Thank you all again, Larry

Thank you all for your kind responses. It has been a difficult time for us, my wife especially. I recognise that the "quality" level of that cross is less than perfect, (not something I would think of selling commercially) but it was presented here more in the spirit of why it was made and not for critical evaluation. I appreciate that you all understood that.

You could hire a young up and coming smith / fabricator, teach her / him to make the bikes and leave yourself free to do your own thing.

very interesting article, thanks for posting.

Here is what Jerry at Old Cedar Forge is / was selling for coat / hat hooks. I think I like yours better though.

Actually I didn't ask, I was just displaying what I had done. It is as tall as I intended it to be. The cross is "NOT" the focus of the garden, it is only a component of the garden. My wife is a very independant thinker so this is a very non traditional garden. Her son liked "weird" stuff and so it is a cactus garden. (There are at least 15 different cactus types so far with more to come. She is also creating a sign post, with arrow pointers of his favorate places in Wa. state. That will be another component.

I don't think I've mentioned this here yet, but my step son commited suicide the beginning of this past summer. My wife is creating a memorial garden for him in our front yard and asked me to make a cross to go into it. This is what I came up with. I used some "scrap" steel and riveted the pieces together.

I don't use a coal forge so I am no expert but it appears to be made using a cut out 55 Gal. drum. The tyer (sp?) and blower look like standard coal forge equipment. How much do they want for it? If it's more than the cost of a hand crank blower and tyer I would say probably not. But if it's a good price, go for it. You can always move the blower and tyer to a different forge body.

I have both of those items, I never had much luck with them. Though if I had a good stump now, I might be able to figure out how to use them!

Dang, I hadn't heard about that. A great loss to blacksmith's everywhere. My prayers go out to his family and friends.

Does anyone know why Tom Clark has stopped offer hammers on his website? I was interested in one of his designs but now I'll have to start looking elsewhere.

That looks good, it should work just as intended. It reminds me of a coat hook / hat hanger that I saw at the Old Cedar Forge retail shop. I'll try to dig up the picture I took of it.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!